


Herding Cats

by notanightlight



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Cat show AU, M/M, Minor Character Death, cats are deeper than you think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 13:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3291317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notanightlight/pseuds/notanightlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gimli was ready for the big shows.  He was going to become a Champion of Distinction just like his Dad!  The only issue might be bad judges, drama at home, and a slinky golden cat that Gimli can't forget.  Being a show cat is harder work than it looks!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cats of Distinction

**Author's Note:**

> Gimris is a character created by determamfidd for her incredible story Sansûkh. I highly recommend reading it!
> 
> Special thanks to jeza_red for being an awesome beta!

 

_Concentrate_. Concentration was the key. That’s what his father always said. All Gimli needed to do was concentrate on his own performance and let the rest of the bustling world around him fade away. He tucked his paws beneath himself and let his voluminous copper coat settle around him as he focused on shutting out the sights and sounds of the show hall. He could do this. He knew he could.

A steady, near silent, swishing sound intruded on Gimli’s quiet contemplation. He tried to ignore it, but it just wouldn’t stop. Disgruntled, Gimli flicked an ear in the direction of the sound. An amused sniff answered the action.

Gimli’s head swiveled to direct a glare at his neighbor to the left. Gimli absently wondered when the cage curtain had slipped down as he regarded the strange cat. A svelte, golden-fawn colored cat with truly large ears sat tall in the other cage, regarding Gimli with bright eyes. Its long, skinny tail gently swished back and forth behind him.

“Do you mind?” Gimli grumbled, “Some of us are attempting to concentrate.”

“Forgive me,” The other cat replied, looking down its nose at Gimli, “I was merely trying to determine if there was actually a cat underneath all that fluff.”

“Of course I’m a cat!” Gimli said with a snort, “What else would I be?”

The other cat tilted its head and gave Gimli a slow blink. “I had thought you resembled one of the dust bunnies from under my handler’s sofa more than a cat.”

Gimli’s fur fluffed to an even greater degree as his indignation grew. “Dust bunny! I wouldn’t be making comments if I was a big eared, overgrown rat like you!” Gimli growled as he stood up to face the irritating cat through the bars.

Said big ears were immediately pinned to the pale cat’s skull as it growled in reply.

“What would a snub nosed kitten like you know about anything?” it hissed, “Go back to your dam and let the real competitors handle the ring.”

“I am no kitten!” Gimli spat, not caring that he and the strange cat were making a scene, “I am a proud Persian tom and only two wins away from being a Champion!” Gimli let his fluffy barrel chest puff out with pride. He was going to be a Grand Champion of Distinction one day, just like his sire was. And a National Best in Show to boot, if he had anything to say about it.

“How cute,” the strange cat sniffed with derision, “But some of us have been around the ring a few times before.”  It lifted its nose towards the card on its cage. Gimli was disappointed to notice the ‘GC’ marked on it. The damned slinky was already a Grand Champion.

Suddenly, Gimli’s view of the pale cat was cut off as the cage curtain was pulled back into place by a long fingered hand. He could just make out a tall, blonde human bending in front of the strange cat’s cage from around the edge.

“Hush now, Legolas. That brute can’t get at you now. There, there,” the man cooed into the cage. “Thorin!” the man snapped, suddenly standing. Gimli shuffled back towards the center of his cage and watched the man warily. “If you can’t handle your cat, then don’t bring him to a professional show,” the man continued.

Gimli’s human walked into his view. “If there’s trouble over here, than it’s your pampered cat’s fault, Thranduil. Gimli has the most even temperament of any cat I’ve ever shown,” his handler replied with a scowl at the taller human.

“Which isn’t saying much,” the tall human sneered.

Gimli heard the sound of a cage being unlatched before the man pulled the strange cat, Legolas, out and settled him on his shoulders, much to Gimli’s bewilderment. The other cat didn’t even look Gimli’s way as he was carried off.

“Come on, Legolas,” Gimli heard the man say, “It’s almost time for the short hair specialty in ring three.”

Gimli began grooming his fur back into place as he tried to shake off the unpleasant episode. Thorin crouched down in front of his cage before reaching in to stroke Gimli. “Don’t mind an elitist like Thranduil and his cats,” Thorin rumbled in his low voice, “You’ll show ‘em.” Gimli purred to show Thorin his approval, both of the petting and his words, and put the whole thing out of his mind. It wasn’t important what some stuck up slinky thought. Today, Gimli was going to become a Champion.

\----------------------------

Gimli purred happily to himself, despite the uneasy, unstable, floating feeling that came with being toted around in his carrier. He did it! He was a Champion! He hadn’t been this pleased with himself since his first win in the kitten shows. Now he could focus on getting more points and working his way up to a Grand Champion.

His human stopped to speak with the ring clerk from Gimli’s last show and Gimli was able to get a look at his empty benching cage, and the cages next to it. He snorted at the ribbons on Legolas’s cage. It looked like the big eared rat had won best in breed. But what a strange breed to be best of! A coat so short that it barely counted, in Gimli’s opinion, and those ears!

Legolas was still in his benching cage, looking just as stiff as the first time Gimli laid eyes on him, and his damned skinny tail swishing back and forth. Oddly enough, Gimli noticed that there wasn’t a cage curtain between Legolas’s cage and the one on it’s other side, despite both of them being occupied. Gimli watched as a small ruddy kitten, the same breed as Legolas, seemed to delight in attempting to catch the pale tail through the cage bars every time it flicked close to her.

Gimli cocked his head to one side as he watched the scene play out. The kitten seemed enthralled with its game, happily batting away. At first glance, Legolas appeared to be completely unaware of the younger cat’s antics, but a pleased flick of the ear and the way his tail twitched out of reach just as the kitten’s paws got close gave him away. It was as much a game to him as it was to the kitten.

After how cold and unpleasant their initial meeting was, it was disconcerting to see Legolas… playing.

Gimli shuffled further back in his cat carrier, but kept watching the two odd cats out of the corner of his eye until Thorin carried him away. 

\----------------------------------

“Mum! We’re home!” the golden nephew of Gimli’s humans, Fili, called out as he shouldered open the door to their home so the others could get inside. At least, Gimli thought human kittens were called, ‘nephews.’ It’s possible that they were actually called ‘boys,’ ‘kids,’ ‘rascals,’ or ‘troublemakers.’ In Gimli’s opinion, humans had far too many terms for their young.

Thorin carried Gimli in, cat carrier in hand and travel bag over his shoulder, followed by the youngest of the human litter, Kili, with his own arms laden full of supplies. Gimli purred and shamelessly rubbed his face against the carrier bars as the other cats of the household trotted up to greet them.

Kili dropped his burden and scooped up the closest cat to him, the very fluffy Bombur. He hefted him close, saying “Goodness Bombur! Have you gotten even bigger while we were away?” after nuzzling his face into the ginger fur, “How do you do that on diet food?”

Bombur just gave the nephew an affectionate lick. Kili always seemed to need the most grooming out of their humans.

“His diet might be more successful if you didn’t sneak him treats,” their only human queen, Dis, said as she came into the room, “All three of you.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Thorin said, setting down Gimli’s carrier and unlatching the door.

“May I present, our newest Champion.”

Gimli fairly strutted out, all puffed up with pride. The other cats milled around him, sniffing him and twining around their newly returned humans’ feet. He immediately bounded over to his father, butting his head against Gloin’s for a nuzzle before the old showcat started to groom him, purring the whole time. He was content to let his sire pamper him for a bit while the humans had their own reunion.

“It went well then?”

“He won best of breed in two rings, and a win for a long haired speciality.”

“He should have won another best in breed, but that stuck up, grumpy judge was running that ring,” Kili cut in.

“Mr. White is a very well respected judge.”

“Well yeah, but he’s still grumpy. And he always handles the cats too rough.”

“I see. And did you get to spend anytime with your clerk?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Thorin grumbled.

“He did,” Fili chimed in.

“You’re all being ridiculous. I don’t have a clerk.”

“Yet you always find time to talk with him.”

“Mr. Baggins is the best informed person at the shows.”

“Sure…”

Gimli chose to ignore the human chatter and launch immediately into his own story. “I did it Dad! I really did it!” he purred to his father, “I’m a Champion now!”

“I knew you could do it,” Gloin praised, attempting to straighten out the fluff on his son’s head.

“Was there ever any doubt?” Bofur added amiably. The smokey grey Persian was the only other cat in the house currently doing shows, although he and Gimli did not always show at the same time. Bombur was still eligible, but he had gained a bit too much weight to meet breed standard, and was perfectly happy not to lose it anytime soon. He had always found the show halls to be a bit much for his shy personality. He was happy to leave the rings to his more outgoing brother.

Both Gloin and his littermate, Oin, were retired from the shows, and happily enjoying the lapcat lifestyle. Gimli patiently suffered it as Oin decided to help his brother by getting at Gimli’s other side.

“I swear I see new kinds of cats every time I go there,” Gimli mused, “And I thought I had seen them all in the kitten shows.”

“Kittens always think they’ve seen everything,” Oin grumbled good-naturedly, “Get to be our age and you’ll figure out that you haven’t seen anything at all.”  Gloin gave a sniff of agreement.

Gimli let the familiar rhetoric wash over him as his gaze wandered over to where Fili was scratching a content Bifur behind his misshapen ear. Bifur had been born with it, and the runt of his litter to boot, but Thorin had decided to keep him instead of selling him off. The family adored their sweet tempered, if quirky, housecat, and he adored them right back.

Gimli’s sister, Gimris, the only queen, enjoyed a similar housecat status. She could have easily been a showcat, but just didn’t have the temperament for it. Gimli was going to have to tease her about sleeping through his return.

The contented flip-flop of Bifur’s tail brought another story from the show hall to mind.

“You should have seen the cat in the benching cage next to mine,” Gimli said as the two older cats continued their ministrations. It didn’t matter how Gimli groomed himself, or how often Thorin brushed him, his coat was never quite up to Gloin’s standards. Thorin liked to say Gloin was ‘particular.’

“He was skinny as they come with the biggest ears I’ve ever seen on a cat!”

“Big ears, you say?” Gloin mused, “Sounds like an Abyssinian, to me.”

“Abyssinian?” “A very old breed. Supposed to have come all the way out of Egypt, where humans worshipped them.” Gloin snorted. “They’ve never forgotten that either.”

“Well he was certainly stuck-up enough,” Gimli agreed, “He had this human, Thranduil, just as pompous as him!"

Gloin paused, tilting his head to one side, “Thranduil… I think I remember that human. You said it was a tom he had there?”

“Yes,” Gimli confirmed, “he and a queen kitten.”

“No grown queens?”

“None that I saw.”

“Huh, then she must have retired,” Gloin flicked an ear, “I used to show against a queen Thranduil handled. She had a litter once, if I remember correctly. Might be this Aby tom’s dam.”

“She was a little slip of a thing, if I remember correctly,” Oin added.

Gimli sniffed. “Well she could have raised him better, then.” Gimli gave himself a shake, blithely ignoring the irritated set of the older showcats’ ears. “Now where is that sister of mine?”

\----------------------------------

That night the house had settled down. Gloin and Oin were curled up together in front of the heater in a white and copper ball, quietly snoozing. His sister had found an open dresser drawer and was using it to take a nap, again.

Bombur was following the troublemakers around, waiting for them to sneak into the kitchen for a snack he could weasle a few scraps out of in exchange for his silence. Bombur was extremely good at letting the whole house know when food was out, and clever enough to play that to his advantage.

Bifur was batting at the moths that got too close to the sliding glass doors, and Bofur was acting as a spectator. The two of them were endlessly inventive when it came to creating new games.

Gimli trotted past Dis, accepting a stroke along his back from her as she pretended not to notice her litter creeping through the dining room, a ginger shadow trailing behind them, before he continued on to the living room.  He spotted Thorin sitting on the couch, writing on a piece of paper on the coffee table. Gimli wondered if he was designing something new. Maybe a new cat tree. He personally thought Thorin created the best cat trees, as they had lots of hidey holes for Gimli to nestle into.

He planted himself by Thorin’s feet and stared up at his human, waiting to be acknowledged. When Thorin failed to notice Gimli’s stare, he let out a deep ‘Mraow’ to get his attention. Sometimes humans could be so inobservant.

Thorin made a ‘Hmm?’ sound and looked down at Gimli. A vast improvement to Gimli’s mind. He watched as the human stretched and rocked his head from side to side.

“Alright, up you get,” he said softly, patting the cushion next to him. Gimli stared at him expectantly. Thorin clicked his tongue and patted the cushion again. Gimli continued to stare. Thorin sighed as he reached down, scooped Gimli up, and deposited him on his lap. Gimli took a few moments to circle and knead his legs, ignoring Thorin’s sounds of discomfort, before settling down in what he’d determined was the most comfortable part of the human’s lap.

Thorin sighed again, before pulling his glasses off of his face and massaging the bridge of his nose. He leaned over Gimli to set them on the coffee table. Gimli unhappily resettled, but accepted the head scratches Thorin gave for disturbing him. He didn’t know exactly what glasses did, he just knew that Thorin sometimes wore them, and sometimes didn’t, and always told Gimli ‘No!’ if he tried to lay on them.

Gimli enjoyed the quiet of the house and the steady petting from Thorin. He could hear the quiet click-clicks of Bifur’s claws against the glass door and the muted voices of Fili and Kili, no doubt attempting to keep Bombur from giving the game away.

“Good job, Gimli,” Thorin said in his low, rumbling voice, “Good job.” Gimli felt a warmth settle throughout himself and thought, this is what it’s all about. This is winning. This is being a Champion.

 

 


	2. Out of the Bag

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to jeza-red for being an awesome beta!

 

The next two shows were free of any uncomfortable encounters with the pale Abyssinian, not that Gimli had been looking for him, of course. It was just prudent to keep an eye out for future competition. And Gimli was really enjoying competing, even if some judge’s handling left something to be desired.

He kept racking up more points on his card toward Grand Champion with each cat he beat. He had given up a win to Bofur the one show they had both been shown together, but he didn’t begrudge his housemate a ribbon.

At the other show he had actually had a very enjoyable time when his benching cage was set next to the one for Dwalin’s cats. Dwalin was somehow a part of Thorin’s family, but Gimli had never been entirely sure how. Dwalin’s cat’s were Exotics, who all shared one large benching cage instead of using separate cages. Gimli was grateful that they left the cage curtain pulled back.

Dori was a stunning chinchilla silver and the oldest of the trio. It was really no surprise when he ended up with a few Best in Show ribbons next to his card. The youngest, Ori, was just barely out of the kitten shows himself, but seemed more enamored with the feathered toys in their cage than being taken off to the rings. Dori seemed to spend almost as much time grooming Ori’s red shaded coat, as Gloin did to Gimli.

Nori did not get shown in any rings. He apparently traveled with Dori and Ori because they all shared a dam and were more at ease together. Gimli found it amusing to watch the chocolate tabby attempt to open the cage door when the other two were off being shown. He got the door unlatched once, but Dwalin’s littermate, Balin (humans had such confusing families), caught him before he could slink away.

Once Nori was brought back, Dori cornered him, and after much stalking and prowling, proceeded to give him a thorough grooming. Gimli gathered that the only reason Nori submitted to it was that Dori had effectively cut off all of his escape routes.

Gimli found the three to be immensely delightful company.

It wasn’t until the third show that Gimli got wind of the pale cat again, although there was still no direct contact.

He had been in that half aware, half asleep state as he lingered in the edges of a between-shows nap, when he heard someone say ‘Legolas.’ His ears pricked, he opened his eyes and looked for the source. He couldn’t see hide nor hair of the Abyssinian with the cage curtain in place, but now that he knew what to listen for, he could make out the sound of two cats conversing from what must have been a few cages away.

“Let it be, Tauriel,” the smooth, sedate voice of Legolas said.

“But you’re always so put out here!” a younger voice chirped, this ‘Tauriel’. The ruddy little kitten Gimli had seen from before, if he was to guess. “You’re unhappy.”

Gimli scooted over to the side of his cage closest to the conversation, his ears swiveled in that direction. It’s not that he was nosey, per se, it's just that anything he could learn about the future competition could only help.

“Thranduil expects a top class showcat,” Legolas replied firmly, but not unkindly. It was odd to hear. “It’s what he groomed me for.”

“But there are other ways to be shown,” the kitten pressed on.

“All of which would be beneath us,” Legolas cut her off, clearly trying to end the conversation.

“I’ll be a real showcat, soon,” Tauriel ignored Legolas’s attempt, “and once I’m a Grand Champion you won’t have to worry about it so much.”

An amused purr answered her as the older cat replied, “Don’t be so hasty to grow up, Kitten. Enjoy your time without responsibilities while it lasts. I can handle it for now.”

“Well it’s not fair.”

“It’s completely fair. After all he’s been through and done for us, I don’t mind doing this for him,” Legolas replied, “And besides, I do it pretty well, don’t you think?” Gimli could picture the way the pale cat would have lifted his chin and looked down his nose as he said that.

“You’d be even better if you could do something you liked,” Tauriel said, sounding dissatisfied.

“What would you have me do, Tauriel? Even if I wanted to, how would I let Thranduil know? It’s not like I can erect a course in our living room. You know how inobservant humans can be.”

“Maybe we could—”

“What in the world are you doing?” Thorin’s voice startled Gimli. He blinked up at his puzzled human from where he was pressed against the bars on the far right of his cage. They simply stared at each other for a moment before Thorin sighed and unlatched the cage.

“Come on. Let’s give you one last brushing before the Persian Specialty.”

\-----------------------------------

Gimli found himself generally agitated and irritable at the following show. He could barely focus on his shows, pacing his cage and getting more aggravated every time he was moved from spot to spot.

For once, his irritation could not be blamed on the shows, handlers, or the other showcats. In fact, he hardly noticed any of them because he was so wrapped up in his thoughts. Home had not been the soothing respite it usually was between the stress of the show halls.

His humans were anxious, the cats were anxious, and it was all because of one thing. His sister. And while all of this played out Gimli was stuck here, useless.

A pair of aged hands reached into Gimli’s cage and grabbed him around his middle. He was dragged out of the cage and into the middle of the ring, where he was rather abruptly deposited.

Gimli huddled down on the judging table, flattening his ears to let the judge know he was not in the mood for this. It was his fourth show of a very stressful day and Gimli was just about at the end of his tether.

“He has a firm, solid body,” the judge’s cultured voice wafted over him. A hand ruffled his fur back and forth. “Full, thick coat with a rich copper color.” Gimli’s tail lashed back and forth. He let out a low growl as the judge dragged a hand over his head, talking about the round shape of Gimli’s head.

The judge put a hand beneath Gimli’s forelegs and stretched him upwards, and Gimli reached his limit.

Gimli began squirming and wriggling in the judge’s grasp, yowling and hissing as he tried to swat at any part of the human he could reach. A ring clerk with stringy dark hair rushed in to help as the judge spun to put the wildly struggling Gimli back into his cage.

Gimli gave him one last good hiss as the door was shut. The judge turned away to straighten himself out and Gimli’s eyes met Thorin’s in the crowd. Shame crept into Gimli’s mind and he dropped his gaze. He turned away and shuffled into the far corner of his cage to sulk.

Gimli stayed in that corner until the show was over and the owners came to pick up their cats.

“I am so sorry, Mr. White,” he heard Thorin say, “I don’t know what got into him.”

The cage door opened and Kili pulled Gimli out holding him close to his body. Gimli still refused to meet anyone’s eyes.

The judge sniffed. “I suppose we can all have our ‘off days.’”

Kili stroked his back and muttered soothingly to Gimli as he carried him back to his benching cage and away from the discussion of the other two humans. Gimli was grateful for Kili’s inherent kindness, because now he was ashamed on top of anxious.

Kili stayed with Gimli for a while after he set him in his benching cage, petting him and scratching behind his ears. Finally, he went off to find Thorin, leaving Gimli alone.

Gimli curled in tighter on himself. He let Thorin down. He let his father down. Oh, he didn’t even want to think about how disappointed Gloin would be when he heard about Gimli’s display. And Thorin had been counting on him! What a fine spectacle he made of himself in that ring. Some Champion, throwing a hissy like a first time kitten. Maybe they should have entered Bofur in this show instead…

“You’re off today,” said an easily recognized voice from the other side of Gimli’s cage curtain. Gimli answered with a low growl.

If there was any cat he didn’t want intruding on his misery, it was Legolas.

“I mean no offense,” Legolas replied quickly, managing to sound something less than haughty, “Just that we all have off days, and it’s your turn for one.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Gimli grumbled, half wishing that the other cat would just be silent, but unwilling to to let a possible slight go unanswered.

Legolas sighed. “Look, I don’t like admitting that I’m wrong, but I will say that I misjudged you. You are actually fairly… good.”

Gimli blinked. He flicked an ear to be sure that it was actually working, and then turned to face the cage curtain. “How would you know?” he asked, curious despite himself.

“I see you,” Legolas replied, “When I’m riding on Thranduil’s shoulders. There’s a pretty good view of the show hall from up there, and I’ve been able to see you be shown on a few occasions.”

Gimli was honestly rather stunned that the pale cat had been keeping an eye on him. He was also a little self conscious, to be truthful.

“So when I say you’ve been off today, I mean it,” Legolas continued, oblivious to Gimli’s puzzlement. “You are off, but just today. Overall, you seem to show well.”

Legolas gave a soft wuff of air. “And if there ever was a judge to take a swat at, that’s the one,” he grumbled, “You don’t know how many times I’ve thought about just giving him a good nip!”

Gimli surprised himself when a brief, pleased purr snuck out of him. He silenced it quickly, knowing that he shouldn’t be be proud of what he had done. “I’ll admit,” he replied, “I had not thought him capable of making the sound that he did.”

The sound of a quiet snicker and the near silent noises of the other cat settling slipped through the cage curtain. “There,” Legolas said, “That sounds a bit better. Now what could have put you off so? If it is not too much to ask, that is,” he quickly added.

Gimli looked down at his paws, kneading at the floor of his cage anxiously before tucking them under himself. He was usually rather private, but there wasn’t really anyone else at the show he could talk to about this, and so far their conversation had been pleasant enough.

“My sister,” Gimli said after some contemplative silence.

“Your sister put you in this dour mood?”

“Not intentionally,” Gimli clarified, “It’s just that she’s been acting strangely for a while. She’s been sleeping more, eating more, and not acting herself. She hissed at me for no reason at all.”

Legolas remained quiet and waited for Gimli to continue.

“It started several shows ago and just kept getting worse. Even the humans noticed! And now I’m stuck here while she…” Gimli let out long breath and let his head flop to the cage floor, “She’s at the Vee-ee-tee.”

Legolas made a thoughtful, sympathetic sound.

“What if there is something gravely wrong with her?” Gimli asked as he stared sullenly out the front of his cage. “What if she’s ill or in pain, and I’m here, being shown off and entirely useless.”

“I can see why you would be preoccupied,” Legolas murmured in reply, “That is a difficult and wholly unpleasant situation. I wish I could offer you some assurance or relieve your mind, but I don’t know anything to help.”

Gimli rolled his head towards the cage curtain and wondered how the pale cat would look right now. None of the images in his head seemed to mesh with Legolas’s tone.

“I don’t have any experience to offer,” Legolas explained, “If one of the cats in our home needs to go to the Vee-ee-tee, Thranduil has to take them, so no one goes to the show.”

Gimli tried to imagine having only one human, and found it a very odd thought.

“I suppose that is why your golden baby isn’t with you today,” Legolas mused aloud.

“Baby?” Gimli asked.

“A human kitten,” Legolas clarified.

“I’m fairly certain they’re called ‘kids,’ or ‘boys,’” Gimli said, “We have a litter of two in our house, and I’ve never heard them called ‘babies.’”

“How strange,” Legolas replied.

Anything else he might have said was interrupted by his human’s arrival. Gimli watched as Legolas was swept away past his cage, perched again on his human’s shoulders as he was carried off to a grooming station.

Gimli was still rather worried and unsettled, but he was glad that he had been able to tell someone. Getting it out there felt like it helped, if only a little. And if he could have a civil conversation with that slinky, then certainly he could get through the rest of his shows.

\------------------------------------

Gimli was curled up on the blanket in the corner of his benching cage, watching the humans scuttle around as they got ready to leave the show hall at the end of the day. Gimli had seen his other shows through without incident, and even managed a win, with the use of as much patience as he could muster. Now he just had to wait for Thorin and Kili to finish their business so they could go home.

“Alright,” he heard from off to the side, “I’ll just go get Tauriel, and then we’ll be off.”

The sound of Legolas’s meow and a cage door being opened and closed followed. Gimli watched the tall human walk off before turning to the cage curtain.

“Legolas,” he called.

“Yes?” he heard Legolas ask.

“I wanted to thank you for earlier,” Gimli replied, “It was a comfort to have someone to talk to about this.”

“Well, I have been told that my ears are rather large,” Legolas said in an impish tone, “So I should be good at listening, if nothing else.”

Gimli let out an amused snort.

“I am glad I could help,” Legolas continued more sincerely, “and I hope your sister will be alright.”

“I hope so too,” Gimli replied.

Their brief conversation was cut short by the return of Thranduil, with an energetic Tauriel eagerly chirruping away about her last show to the older Abyssinian.

Shortly afterwards, the spot next to Gimli’s cage was empty and Thranduil’s group was gone from the show hall.  Thorin and Kili showed up fairly soon afterwards and for once, Gimli was happy to crawl into his cat carrier.

Kili was just gathering up the last of their equipment when a familiar ring clerk approached.

“Mr. Durinson!” the clerk called out in greeting, drawing Thorin’s attention.

“Yes, Mr. Baggins?” Thorin replied. Gimli was torn between wanting to be on their way home as soon as possible and looking forward to the way Thorin’s mood always improved after speaking with this clerk.

“I just wanted to tell you that I had a friend ask about the cat tree you made for me,” Mr. Baggins said, absentmindedly straightening his shirt, “I gave him your information, so if anyone calls about a custom piece, well, um… you’ll know who sent them.”

“I appreciate that,” Thorin said. Gimli had to feel a little proud of Thorin. Everyone should know that Thorin’s cat trees were the best.

“Well then,” Mr. Baggins said. He gave a sharp little nod and then turned on his heel. He took a few steps away before pivoting and walking back again. His mouth opened and then shut again before he finally said, “Um, not that it’s any of my business, but I wouldn’t worry about that whole thing with Mr. White. Gimli’s certainly not the first cat to give Old Saruman a piece of his mind, and I highly doubt he’ll be the last.”

Gimli could hear Kili snickering off to the side.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Baggins,” Thorin said. Gimli thought he sounded a bit happier, or at least a little less grim.

“Good. Then I’ll see you at the next show.”

“I look forward to it.”

Mr. Baggins flashed the group a brief grin before walking away again, this time without turning back.

Gimli found Mr. Baggins to be pleasant as far as humans went, but was glad that they could finally go home and find out how his sister fared. Today had been trying enough.

\---------------------------------

The minute Kili opened Gimli’s carrier door he bolted out of it, straight to where his sister sat, looking very pleased with herself. He looked to where his father sat nearby, puffed up with pride, and then to where Oin was washing Gimris’s ears. Gimli felt his concern give way to bewildered confusion.

“What…” he asked.

“You’ll see,” Gloin replied, with a nod towards their humans.

“What did the vet say?” Thorin asked. Gimli listened intently.

“Well,” Dis replied as Fili trailed after her into the room, Bofur tucked in his arms, “She certainly isn’t sick.”

“We’ve had some very naughty kitties,” Fili said. He hefted Bofur under the forelegs, so he could look at him face to face. “Haven’t we?”

Bofur just continued his rumbly purring.

Dis ignored her son’s antics and continued explaining to Thorin and Kili, who looked as perplexed as Gimli felt. “You know how we’ve been expecting Gimris’s first heat?”

Thorin nodded as he shrugged off his coat.

“We missed it.”

Gimli looked at Gimris, still looking very pleased with herself.

“How could we miss that?” Kili asked.

“Because one of the tomcats didn’t,” Fili replied, Bofur still purring happily.

Gimli turned to his sister with wide eyes, tuning out the rest of his humans’ conversation. “You’re having a litter!” he exclaimed. Gimris purred and nuzzled his head with her own.

“Yup,” she replied.

Gimli couldn’t believe it. All this time worrying that something was terribly wrong with his sister, and she was going to have kittens! He answered her purr with his own and a question. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I couldn’t be sure,” she answered, cocking her head to one side, “It isn’t like I’ve ever done this before.”

A very excited Kili scooped her up before Gimli could say anything in retort. Kili cuddled her close to his chest, a wide grin across his face. “I can’t believe you’re going to have babies!” he crowed.

Gimli’s ear twitched. Going to have what now?

 


End file.
